Apparatus for treating shoe soles



Dec. 9, 1947. w. c. CARD, JR

APPARATUS FOR TREATING SHOE SOLES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ori inal Filed March 10, 1944 1947- I .w. 'c. CARD, JR ,4

APPARATUS FOR TREATING SHOE SOLES Origi'nal'Filed March I0, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 @mmmawmgzwm N Afizorngs Patented Dec. 9, 1947 APPARATUS FOR TREATING SHOE SOLES William Carpenter, Card, Jr., Winthrop, Mass.,

assignor to Compo Shoe Machinery Corporation, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Delaware Original appl'cation March 10, 1944, Serial No. 525,911. Divided and this application February 13, 1945, Serial No. 577,652

2 Claims.

1 This invention relates to apparatus for use in the manufacture of footwear and more specifically to apparatus for use in the treatment of pre-cemented outsoles to facilitate the application of and the adhesive attachment of the outsoles to shoe bottoms.

More particularly the invention relates to apparatus for treating outsoles having the marginal edges of their attaching faces coated with a waterproof, thermoplastic cement, ,(i. e., one which does not become tacky or sticky when exposed to water at room temperature) so as to expose the outsoles prior to their being permanently secured to the lasted upper to the action of vapor such as heated water vapor simultaneously to activate the cement thereon and to mull or temper the outsole material, as more fully described in my co-pending application, Serial No. 525,911, filed in the United States Patent Office on March 10, 1944, and of which this application is a division.

A principal object of the invention is to provide suitable apparatus for carrying out the process described in my above mentioned co-pending application, or similar processes, in an efficient and economical manner.

Another object of the invention is to provide apparatus for treating cemented outsoles prior to their being permanently secured to the lasted upper, simultaneously to activate the cement thereon and to temper the outsole material, which can be utilized with available sole attaching presses to manufacture cemented shoes on a rapid and eificient production basis.

A further object of the invention is to provide apparatus which can be used to vapor treat outsoles regardless of whether they are secured or not secured at their heel ends to the heel seats of shoe uppers.

A still further object of the invention is to provide apparatus which can be used to vapor treat and maintain the contour of pre-molded outsoles or which can be used to so treat and impart a contour to unmolded'outsoles prior to their being permanently secured to the lasted upper.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view, partly in section, showing one form of apparatus embodying fea- 2 tures of my invention and showing a plurality of outsoles in theprocess of treatment;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation, partly in section, of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional View taken substantially along lines 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 3, but showing another form of apparatus embodying features of my invention; and,

Fig. 5 is a perspective view, partly" in" section,

.showing a further modified form of my apparatus.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to Figs. 1 to 3, there is shown a suitable and preferred form of apparatus for treating outsoles with vapor, such as hot water vapor so as simultaneously to activate cement on the outsoles and to mull or temper the outsole material prior to its permanentattachment to the lasted upper. As illustrated the apparatus comprises a sole tempering and cement activating chamber generally designated l0, having a lower portion or base H forming a receptacle l2 adapted to hold a body I3 of liquid, e. g. water, which may be supplied from and kept at a constant level by a barometric feed tank I. Preferably, the water in the receptacle I2 is heated by means of electrical resistance heaters l5 which may be of a known direct immersion type terminating in the form of the screw plugs [6, which are threaded into the end walls of the base ll. Of course other suitable heating means, supplying sufficient heat to bring the water to the temperature re quired to supply the heat and vapor necessary to mull or temper the soles and to activate the cement thereon, may be employed. Disposed above the body of water l3 at a sufiicient height to prevent it from being splattered is situated a screen I! that is located transversely of the re ceptacle l2 and extends longitudinally of the chamber l0; and, in the preferred form of apparatus this screen is curved to conform to the average curvature of molded outsoles so as to retain the mold in a pre-molded sole H3 or tend to mold a non-molded sole during the tempering operation to facilitate the application and levelling thereof on the shoe bottom as the sole is cement attached thereto.

Hinged to the base portion II at 19 is a cover member 20 which extends over the receptacle l2 and downwardly towards the angled wall 2|, which serves as a shoe rest, to provide a longitudinally extending horizontal slot 22 in the front face of the tempering and activating chamber Ill and the cover is provided with a plurality of dividing walls 23 which have their lower edges curved to match the screen i1, thus forming separate compartments into which the outsoles to be treated may be inserted without interference with each other. The cover 20 also serves to retain the vapor around the outsoles during the tempering and activating operation.

In using the apparatus, the temperature of the body of water l3 in the receptacle .'2 is preferably maintained at from 90-95 C. by means of a suitable thermostatic control (not shown), and

outsoles are inserted through the slots 22 into the separate compartments ofthe treating-chamber. The outsoles are then treated by the heated water vapor for a period of up to two minutes and as each sole is removed to be placed with its lasted upper in a shoe press for permanent attachment of the sole to the upper, another untreated outsole may be placed in the vacant compartment, thus the operation of treating the outsoles may be carried along in a continuous and workmanship like manner.

The complete apparatus may be attached by the brackets 2 to or near a shoe pressing machine, e. g., as shown in the patent-to Weiss, No. 1,945,762.

In the modified form of apparatus shown in Fig. 4 the cover member 20' lies adjacent and has its lower face substantially conformed to the curvature of the screen I! so as to act positively to retain the mold in pre-molded outsoles or, in case non-molded soles are used, acts to mold them during the tempering and activating operation.

In this modified form there isalso provided a perforated pipe 3llimmersed in the body of water l3 through which .air may be blown to agitate the liquid and to facilitate the circulation of vapor within the chamber In. This latter may also be used, if desired, in the form of apparatus shown iniFigs. 1 and 5. By this means a lower temperature can be used in some cases when water is used as the activating and tempering liquid; or if one desires merely to activate the cement, a suitable solvent can be used in place of the water with a correspondingreduction in the temperature used, as will be well understood by oneskilledin the art.

In Fig. 5 another form of apparatus is shown, in which the sole supporting member correspondingto the screen H'in Fig. 1 is composed of spaced bars H, which are located so as to present a fiat surface to the sole. One skilled in the art will really understand that with this form of apparatus the tempering and cement activating operations can also be carried out, and the molding of the outsole can in certain cases be subsequently accomplished on the shoe press in which the cemented sole is attached in the usual manner to the shoe bottom. It will also be understood that such bars ll may be curved and used in place of the screen I! in the apparatus shown in Figs. 1 and 4, and that a fiat screen may be used in place of the bars in Fig. 5. The two will hereinafter be referred to as a foraminous' support. In each form of apparatus shown, it will be seen that when treating a sole l8 which has been previously secured to the heel portion of the shoe bottom the front face 2| of the chamber ID acts as a support for the lasted shoe upper 3|.

In cases where outsoles are not secured to the heel seat of the shoe upper prior to being submitted to treatment by, the vapor, the outsoles may be inserted into the treating chamber to allow the Vapors to activate the cement thereon.

Since certain changes may be made in the above construction and difierent embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter'contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I It is, also to be understood that the following claims areintended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. An apparatus for activating andv mulling a shoe outsole prior to its being permanently secured to a lasted shoe upper, said outsole having its attaching margin coated with waterproof thermoplastic cement, comprising a curved foraminous supporting surface substantially corresponding to the outsoles ultimate shape on the shoe, said foraminous supporting surface being enclosed in a chamber provided with means for holding and heating liquid to form hot vapor for activating the cement and provided with means to permit the insertion of the outsole on the support, said apparatus being further provided with means for positively holding said sole against said curved foraminous support during the activating and mulling treatment.

2. An apparatus for activating and mulling a molded shoe outsole prior to its being permanently secured to a lasted shoe upper, said outsole having its attaching margin coated with Waterproof thermoplastic cement, comprising a curved foraminous supporting surface substantially corresponding to the outsoles ultimate shape on the shoe, said foraminous supporting surface being enclosed in a chamber provided with means for holding and heating liquid to form hot vapor for activating the cement and provided with means to permit the insertion of the outsole on the support, said apparatus bein further provided with means for positively holding said sole against said curved foraminous supportduring the activating and mulling treatment.

WILLIAM CARPENTER CARD, J ll.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,876,055 Jennings T Sept. 6, 1932 1,986,946 Smith et al. Jan. 8, 1935 2,182,541 Martin Dec. 9, 1939 

